Unity has Rebels on roll

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Feb. 23, 2004 | 9:31 a.m.

Group hug, anyone?

If there was one thing that stood out in UNLV's 94-79 victory against Colorado State on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, it was the fact that Rebels players actually looked as if they were enjoying themselves for a change.

Why even outspoken junior forward Odartey Blankson, less than two weeks removed from his biting comments about team dissension, even exchanged high-fives with point guard Jerel Blassingame after one play. Smiles and pats on the fanny, something that has been lacking much of the year, also were plentiful.

Team Turmoil suddenly was Team Together. Dr. Phil would have been proud.

Whether the camaraderie continues for the remainder of the season likely depends on whether the Rebels (14-9, 5-5) can keep on winning. UNLV has a chance to make it three in a row tonight when it plays host to old nemesis Wyoming (10-14, 3-8) at 9 p.m.

"That's something Coach (Jay Spoonhour) talked about when he took over (last week)," Blankson said of team unity. "He wanted to make sure that we had fun out there on the court. For some reason we've been having a lot more fun than we had in the past. I can't really explain it. But there's definitely been a change."

A fresh start under a new coach no doubt has had something to do with it. Spoonhour took over the head job from his father, Charlie Spoonhour, six days ago when his dad stepped down due to medical reasons. And back-to-back home wins against San Diego State and Colorado State have moved UNLV back to the .500 mark (5-5) in Mountain West Conference play with a chance to finish in the upper echelon of league play much more a real possibility now.

"When you lose, you know, it brings a lot of negative things to the team," Blassingame said. "When you're winning and playing well, it brings the best out of you. We're playing well and we're sticking together."

Five Rebels scored between 14 and 19 points in Saturday's win. UNLV finished with 22 assists, including a team-high seven by Blassingame and five in just 19 minutes by freshman guard John Winston.

"We've had enough about feeling bad about some stuff," Spoonhour said. "We need to feel some good about some things."

Spoonhour said he and assistant coaches Dave Rice, Deane Martin and Vince Booker have tried to stress the importance of little things like acknowledging a teammate after a nice pass or play with a high-five or a pat on the butt.

"I think that is important and all the coaches have tried to tell them that," Spoonhour said.

He singled out Rice in particular for his pep talk after Colorado State, which trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, had whittled UNLV's lead to just five points, 58-53, with 10:56 to go.

"He said, 'This is when you guys have to stick together. It's easy to be together when you're playing great. This is when you need to stick together,' " Spoonhour recalled.

"And they looked at each other and nodded."

The Rebels, thanks in part to two 3-pointers by Romel Beck, then went on a 15-4 run over the next four minutes to blow open the game.

"I just think that they understand," Spoonhour said. "And when that happens, you have a team.

"The thing is, everybody is smiling and guys are happy. We don't want to get too happy, but the mood of the team is important."

It's been an amazing transformation so far. Just a week ago the Rebels couldn't seem to stand each other. Now they can't wait to get back out on the court again.

"It can only get better from here," senior center J.K. Edwards said. "We've had our lows, I think. We should go in the right direction after this hopefully.

"It's fun right now when you're winning. I'm ready to go. It's a big game (tonight) with Wyoming coming in here. I can't wait to get back out there."